$120,310

BASIC SPEC

BMW unlikely to follow Mercedes-Benz ute

Automotive brands often follow trend-setting rivals, with machines such as the BMW X6 SUV-coupe and Mercedes-Benz CLS four-door coupe starting new niches followed by rival marques.

But BMW's Australian boss, Marc Heinrich-Werner, is not rushing to offer an alternative to an upcoming joint venture between Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Renault.

"The question is whether that really fits to the brand or not," Werner says.

"At this point in time we cannot really communicate any plans as far as a pick-up truck is concerned."

BMW once built a V8-powered, M3-based ute as an April fools gag, but such a vehicle is extremely unlikely to go into production.

Werner says the brand has other models on its mind, such as a larger X7 SUV to rival the Mercedes-Benz GLS-class

"First and foremost we'll expand the X product current range with the X7 – this has first priority for us," he says.

"That is the next logical product for the BMW brand, if there is a further derivative coming, we'll look into it."

The Mercedes ute will be based on Nissan's Navara, expanding on a relationship with Nissan and Renault framed around the Renault Twingo and Smart city cars.

BMW has a similar joint venture underway with Toyota, building a successor to the Toyota Supra and BMW Z4 sports car and sharing diesel engine technology.

Toyota's HiLux ute is the biggest selling model in its category, but Werner says customers should not hold their breath waiting for BMW's i3 or Active Tourer to be accompanied by a jointly developed by an i-Lux or Active Tower.

"As I said before we are very happy with our current SUV line-up," Werner says.

"As far as the cooperation with Toyota is concerned, at the moment we are focusing on the Z4 successor.

"On top of that we are looking at various drivetrain and technical cooperation with Toyota. This is so far the priority."